KIMI FINISHES RALLY GREAT BRITAIN IN THE POINTS

Red Bull Wales Rally Great Britain day three report

So this is where the remarkable WRC journey ends for Kimi Räikkönen in 2010, after 11 rallies contested and five points finishes, making a total of 25 points and 10th in the drivers' championship at the end of his debut season.

In just one year, the 2007 Formula One World Champion has become the fifth most prolific points-scorer in the illustrious history of the Citroen C4 WRC: a car that has claimed more than 600 fastest stage times throughout its four seasons of competition, one of which was set by Kimi on the Rallye Deutschland in August.

Kimi has made a bit of rally history, becoming the only Formula 1 World Champion to score World Rally Championship points or set a fastest stage time. This year, the Finn also took his very first rally win, at a national event in France, and visited new countries that ranged from Mexico to Bulgaria. It's been an incredible story that has captured the imagination of the entire motorsport world.

Kimi is known as the Iceman because nothing bothers him: especially not a brand new challenge that would send most people running for cover. He is well known for being fearless in the car but he is just as determined out of it, having taken on the biggest bet of his career thanks to Red Bull. Nobody has ever tried to switch full-time from Formula One to rally before, but there and again not everybody is like the Iceman....

The learning curve has been so steep that it is practically vertical, and Rally Great Britain was one of the most complicated events of the year thanks to rain, wind, mud, fog and even a small cyclone called Carmen: a bad weather front that has swept across northern Europe.

Nonetheless, Kimi did not make a single serious mistake on any of the 20 gravel stages and 359 competitive kilometres, to eventually finish in a points-scoring eighth.

"It's been a really good rally and it's nice to end my first season in the World Rally Championship with a points finish," he said. "This has definitely been the most challenging year of my career and Britain was one of the most difficult rallies that I competed on, mostly because of the grip changing all the time. The roads were really slippery, but it's always been a question of trying to work out exactly how slippery they are. Like everything else, this has been a completely new experience for me. Looking back on it, this season has been more or less as I expected it to be: we've made a few mistakes but we've also learned a lot. The stages in Wales are really nice, but as always you need experience to be really quick on them.

Generally speaking I'm happy with the progress we've made on this rally and I've had a lot of fun as well, so I'm very grateful to Red Bull and Citroen Racing for all the opportunities that we've enjoyed this year."

A key part of Räikkönen's swift adaptation to a completely new discipline has been his co-driver Kaj Lindstrom, a former winner of the Monte Carlo Rally, who has been alongside the Iceman since Kimi first started rallying for fun last year.

Before then, Lindström sat alongside four-time World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen and he sees a lot in common between the two Finnish legends.

"They certainly have the same determination and natural speed," said Lindstrom. "For somebody with so little experience, Kimi has taken everything in his stride and made a lot of progress on both gravel and asphalt, as well as with the pace notes. It's clear how much he has improved and there's plenty more still to come. On this event Kimi has been really impressive with no mistakes at all, so it's been a great way to finish the season."

Source: RedBullRallye

Sordo and Räikkönen brave the Welsh storm

CITROËN JUNIOR TEAM IN WALES 2010. LEG 1

Dani Sordo and Diego Vallejo occupy fifth place overall at the end of day one on the Rally Great Britain, having formed part of the leading group from the very beginning of the event. In the second Citroën Junior Team C4 WRC, Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström end the day 10th after a sensible rally so far.

The Rally Great Britain got underway in the midst of an autumn storm, named ‘Carmen’ by
meteorologists. Heavy rain and winds of up to 100kph, which forced the local authorities to take exceptional measures, accompanied the crews as they started the rally yesterday night.

As the rain fell, Dani Sordo and Kimi Raikkonen put on a great show at the Cardiff spectator
superspecial, which took place on Thursday evening in front of huge crowds. The Spaniard set the thirdfastest time behind Loeb and Ogier while the Finn was sixth overall on the short asphalt test in Cardiff Bay.

The Citroën C4 WRCs left parc fermé this morning at 0600. The crews were heading towards Llanidloes, in the centre of Wales, for two runs over the loop of three stages that made up the day’s competitive action.

At the end of the 32-kilometre Hafren stage in the morning, Dani summed up the dreadful conditions that he had just encountered. “It’s very difficult to read the road,” he reported. “The grip is changing hugely from one corner to the next. You can find one corner with a lot of grip, followed by an extremely slippery section where you have to be a lot more careful.”

Kimi Räikkönen was also struck by the constantly changing levels of grip. “I actually thought that the roads would be a lot more muddy,” he said. “But they’re certainly very slippery.”
At the end of the first loop of gravel stages, Dani Sordo was fifth overall while Kimi Räikkönen was 10th.

In Hafren 2, Dani Sordo had a high-speed spin. The Spaniard managed to get going again with a puncture and finished SS5 with a 27.6-second time loss. By the end of day one, he was fifth overall: 48.9 seconds behind the leader.

“I felt a bit more comfortable this afternoon,” he said. “We drove well
with what was an extremely competitive car. I’m feeling confident for tomorrow. I’m going to try and set some good times in order to make progress up the leaderboard.”

Kimi Räikkönen showed more and more performance as the rally went on and consolidated his position in the top 10. “It was very difficult to judge the amount of grip,” he said. “Some places, for example, looked slippery but in fact offered quite a lot of grip. I’m still lacking a lot of experience in these conditions. My driving is improving bit by bit. We’re heading in the right direction…”

Team manager Benoît Nogier concluded: “Our opening day has fitted in perfectly with the objective of ensuring that our two Citroën C4 WRCs finish in the points, so that the Citroën Junior Team can claim third place in the World Championship rankings. Dani was able to put in some very significant performances throughout the day. It’s a shame that he lost time with a spin. His new goal now is to come back at Hirvonen and stay in front of Latvala. Kimi Räikkönen has not made a single mistake throughout the rally so far and he has set some interesting split times. It’s all very promising for the rest of the
event.”

Source:RedBullRallye

Kimi Räikkönen Shakedown at Wales Rally GB 2010

Source: CitroënWRC